Jessica Simpson and her husband, Eric Johnson, are taking time apart.

Simpson, 44, and her former NFL star husband, 45, are splitting after ten years of marriage, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“Eric and I have been living separately while navigating a difficult situation in our marriage,” Simpson wrote in a statement to People. “Our children come first, and we prioritize what is best for them. We appreciate all of the love and support that has come our way, and we value privacy right now as we work through this as a family.”

The revelation comes less than a week after Simpson, who has three children with Johnson, shared a cheerful photo on Instagram, reminding her fans that “life is short.” “Smile while you still have teeth😜.”

Johnson was seen without his wedding band in November, around the same time Simpson announced her “comeback” to music with a mysterious Instagram post including photographs of herself in a recording studio.

“Interviews in my Nashville music room are where I unearthed my singular magic,” she captioned the photos. “This comeback is personal. It’s an apology to myself for putting up with things I didn’t deserve.

A few days later, a source informed PEOPLE that the “With You” singer and her hubby “very much live separate lives.”

Simpson and Johnson married in July 2014, after four years of dating. They have three children: daughters Maxwell “Maxi” Drew, 12, and Birdie Mae, 5, and son Ace Knute, 11.

The couple first connected in 2010 through a mutual acquaintance, and after six months of dating, they got engaged.

The Open Book author and the retired tight end had their first two children, Maxwell and Ace, in May 2012 and June 2013, respectively.

Their son and daughter served as ring bearer and flower girl for the couple’s wedding in Montecito, California, in front of more than 250 guests.

“A true love will never make you question yourself or what’s real,” she told PEOPLE in 2023. “My amazing soulmate allows me to love passionately and without fear of hurt.”

That same year, Simpson told PEOPLE how Johnson “embraces” her work.

“I don’t find it hard to love anybody, but I have always thought that I was hard to love, that I was too much for people, or my schedule was too demanding,” she told me. He has a deeper understanding of my heart than anyone I’ve ever encountered in my life.

Simpson said their relationship has always been “easy” and they try to “keep the romance there, even with three kids.”

On Johnson’s birthday in September 2023, she posted photographs from their family birthday party on Instagram and paid respect to him in a loving remark.

“My heart is so taken with this man that I can’t call it my…. She wrote, “We love youuuu.”

In March 2023, the couple went on a couples holiday without their children. At the time, the actress shared photographs from their getaway on Instagram, claiming she “stole [her] lover” for the weekend.

Simpson told PEOPLE in 2022 that communication was a key component of her marriage. “I feel like every moment with us, we’re growing as long as we’re communicating, and our love is only deepening,” she told me.

“I feel like Eric and I learn from each other so much,” she told me. I feel stronger than ever, even more than at the start.”

In a 2021 interview with PEOPLE, she also discussed how their relationship was not without hardships.

“I think the takeaway is that it’s not easy, and every day presents challenges and blessings,” she told me at the time. The more we overthink things, the more we impede our personal journey.

Simpson’s last marriage to Nick Lachey lasted from 2002 to 2005.